by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

ST. LOUIS - The calendar says it was just another mundane regular-season game in July, but the emotions Sunday night from the Los Angeles Dodgers' dugout revealed a whole different story.

The Dodgers, who will loudly refute anyone's perception of a void in team chemistry, demonstrated Sunday night in their 4-3 victory, over the St. Louis Cardinals that if you try to push them around, they're going to come back pushing a whole lot harder.

"We are going to protect our players...'' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Everybody has to pitch in. At some point, if you can't pitch in without hitting somebody, then your guys are at risk, too.''

Yeah, you don't want to mess with Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. He may be the hottest pitcher on the planet, but he showed Sunday that he'd rather stand up for his teammates than worrying about a third Cy Young title.

Little wonder why he's the most respected man in that Dodger clubhouse.

"You can't elevate it anymore,'' Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said.

Kershaw, 11-2 with a 1.92 ERA, appeared to intentionally hit Cardinals' slugger Matt Holliday in the fourth inning. It was in direct retaliation for Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez being hit in the top of the fourth.

Kershaw, of course, didn't admit that it was deliberate, but divulged his frustration with the Cardinals and other teams pitching carelessly inside this season and hitting their star players. All-Star right fielder Yasiel Puig was hit in the hand Saturday and was unavailable Sunday. Ramirez was hit twice Sunday, forcing his departure in the ninth inning, but X-rays showed no fracture.

"It's tough when you see Hanley get hit like that so many times,'' said Kershaw, who gave up three runs in seven innings, the most he's permitted in a game since May 28. "It's one thing to miss in, but when you're missing up and in at a guy's face like that, that's really scary.

"I'm pretty sure [rookie Carlos Martinez] wasn't doing it on purpose, but when you throw that hard, you need to have a better idea of where the ball is going on the inner half of the plate, for sure.''

It's why Kershaw felt compelled to retaliate, drilling Holliday in the left hip. Holliday was livid, and yelled at Kershaw, while home-plate umpire Lance Barrett immediately issued warnings to both sides.

"It was handled probably correctly,'' Ellis said. "If you are going to hit somebody, I'm glad we hit him lower in the body. It was a good play, and it ended up being good for the teamā?¦.

There were no more incidents until the ninth inning. Ellis led off with a double off Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal, who promptly struck out the next two batters. He was on his way to escaping the jam when he hit Ramirez with an inside 99-mph fastball on an 0-2 pitch, forcing him out of the game. Rosenthal wasn't ejected since there was obviously no intent, but Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez soon made Rosenthal pay for the mistake.

"Your first emotion is to hit a home run, stand on home plate,'' Gonzalez said, "and do all of that stuff.''

Instead, he calmed himself, and promptly lined a single to right field, scoring pinch-runner Miguel Rojas from second base for the game-winner, and back into a first-place tie with the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

"It just comes go a point where you say, "Enough is enough,''' Gonzalez said. "It's one thing pitching inside, and another thing pitching inside carelessly. They're not doing it on purpose, but they've shown they don't care if they hit him.

"It's almost like, "Hey, we're going to throw inside, and if it hits you, it hits you. If it doesn't it doesn't.'''

It's the last time the Dodgers are scheduled to play the Cardinals this season, but if this three-game series was any indication, the two sides have a feeling they could be seeing one another again in the playoffs.

"It felt like we had a little edge tonight,'' Ellis said. "It was a game we needed to win.''

And just maybe, the Dodgers believe, the victory will ultimately mean a whole lot more than just one game in the standings.